Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines
before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules
when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
x7 Yeah, Trump trying to make peace with North Korea (who I do not trust at all; they pulled similar stunts in 2000 and 2008) might make him and the Republicans look slightly better... But then you remember he's also trying to renege on the Iran Nuclear Agreement, which will almost certainly cause a War that the US will absolutely be a part of, and it will make them look worse. And considering any peace with N. Korea will look even worse then the Iran Nuclear Deal, I can't see Republicans cheer about it.
edited 2nd May '18 9:46:05 AM by DingoWalley1
Well, if Trump "presides" (through happenstance) over a non-proliferation deal with the Norks that they immediately renege on, that'll look pretty bad for him.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"![]()
The catalyst for the Norks going along with this was the collapse of their mountain testing site.
Moon is sucking up to Trump because he's hoping this will keep Trump from fucking things up.
Wanna bet Trump will ask said lawyer to deliver dirt on Bill and Hillary Clinton? And wanna bet that said lawyer will give it if asked?
edited 2nd May '18 10:11:37 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedI dunno, I think the question amounts to how much the North Koreans believe their own ideology versus want to stay in power.
Like 1984, the Inner party is living a labored and troubled life themselves.
Averting famine is a good thing and they have decimated the nation quite thoroughly.
Unlike Assad, they're not in danger of being lynched by the public if they loosen the reigns.
edited 2nd May '18 10:11:50 AM by CharlesPhipps
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Trump is somehow freaking out even more.
“The questions are an intrusion into the President’s Article 2 powers under the Constitution to fire any Executive Branch Employee...what the President was thinking is an outrageous.....as to the President’s unfettered power to fire anyone...” Joe Digenova, former US Attorney
NEW BOOK - A MUST READ! “The Russia Hoax - The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump” by the brilliant Fox News Legal Analyst Gregg Jarrett. A sad chapter for law enforcement. A rigged system!
A Rigged System - They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!
Holy shit.
[Ukraine’s government stopped cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation after it secured deadly weapons from the Trump administration, according to reports.
President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort has been ensnared in the ongoing investigation into whether the Trump campaign collaborated with Russians to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Manafort has been accused of money laundering and failing to accurately register as a foreign agent, among other charges. At the heart of the matter is Manafort’s work with pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.
In addition to the Mueller probe, anti-corruption investigators in Kiev had been looking into suspicious payments Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych—a pro-Russian figure who was driven out of the country by pro-Western protesters in 2014—had made to Manafort and a U.S. law firm. Several anti-corruption activists and journalists in Ukraine said they suspected Yanukovych had used stolen taxpayer money to pay Manafort.
But Ukraine’s chief prosecutor has now halted the investigation, ostensibly to remain on Trump’s good side. The president has frequently called the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt” and has expressed his extreme displeasure with the special counsel's team, and Ukraine’s government is trying to appease Trump in order to secure much needed financial and military aid from Washington, according to a report from The New York Times published Wednesday. The order to freeze cooperation was given shortly after the Trump administration announced that it planned to provide Ukraine’s government with anti-tank missiles known as Javelins.]
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/05/02/day-468/
Day 468: A setup and a trap.
1/ Robert Mueller warned Trump's legal team that he will subpoena the president to appear before a grand jury if he refuses to speak to federal investigators involved in the Russia probe. Mueller raised the possibility of a subpoena during a tense meeting in March after Trump's attorneys insisted that Trump was under no obligation to speak with investigators. Unlike an interview with the special counsel, Trump would not be allowed to bring his lawyers to a grand jury hearing. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump's current legal team lacks the security clearances required to discuss sensitive issues during a presidential sit-down with Mueller. Trump's former attorney John Dowd was the only person on Trump's legal team with the proper clearance – he resigned in March. (Bloomberg)
3/ Trump plans to add Bill Clinton's impeachment lawyer his legal team and replace Ty Cobb, who will leave at the end of May. Cobb has been the lead lawyer representing Trump in the special counsel investigation. Emmet Flood is expected to take a more adversarial approach to the Mueller investigation than Cobb. (New York Times)
4/ Ty Cobb said a Trump interview with Mueller is "certainly not off the table" and that they're working "to make decisions and work towards an interview." Cobb also said he has "no doubt" Mueller didn't leak the list of 49 questions for Trump. (ABC News)
5/ Trump threatened to "get involved" in the "rigged system" over the Justice Department's ongoing dispute with the House Freedom Caucus about a memo outlining the topics being investigated by Robert Mueller. "There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax)," Trump tweeted, "and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup and trap)." (Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/politics/donald-trump-justice-department/index.html
6/ Trump dictated his 2015 glowing letter of health, his personal physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, claimed. "He dictated that whole letter. I didn't write that letter," Bornstein said. "I just made it up as I went along." The letter claimed, among other things, that Trump's "physical strength and stamina are extraordinary" and, "If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/harold-bornstein-trump-letter/index.html
poll/ 61% of Americans think Trump regularly has trouble telling the truth. 76% of Republicans, however, believe Trump tells the truth all or most of the time. (NBC News)
poll/ 62% of voters say the Trump administration is being run chaotically. 68% of Republicans say the Trump administration is running well. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/02/trump-chaos-poll-563170
Notables.
Mueller's office wants to wait two more months before sentencing Michael Flynn, who is cooperating with the special counsel after pleading guilty to lying to investigators. "Due to the status of the special counsel's investigation," Mueller's team told the court, "the parties do not believe that this matter is ready to be scheduled for a sentencing hearing at this time." (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/michael-flynn-sentencing/index.html
Iowa lawmakers passed the nation's most restrictive abortion legislation, which would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected – before some women even know they're pregnant. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is anti-abortion but hasn't said publicly if she will sign it into law. (NBC News)
Planned Parenthood and two other reproductive rights groups are suing the Trump administration to block a "radical shift" in the federal Title X program. The changes would put the health of millions of low-income patients at risk by prioritizing practices such as the rhythm method over comprehensive sexual health services. (NPR)
Pence called Joe Arpaio a champion of "the rule of law." Trump pardoned Arpaio last year after his contempt of court conviction for ignoring a federal judge's order to stop detaining people because he merely suspected them of being undocumented immigrants. (Washington Post)
So here's a bit of news that should be the headline for the week, but because Trump is as riddled with scandals as Bannon is with pockmarks, it's gone decidedly under the radar.
Remember how the CBO projected that the deficit would rise by $1.4 Trillion over a decade because of the GOP tax bill? Their latest estimate
says that it's likely going to be double that at a whopping $3 Trillion. Meaning that, by 2028, the Debt interest will make up 95% of US GDP.
I'd love to see the deficit hawks explain their lack of opposition to that now.
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"76% of Republicans still believe Trump is telling the truth. Wow.
That speaks to how effective FOX is at its job of being propaganda, and the Republicans' contempt for other media.
And I really hate how big a Karma Houdini Sherriff Joe is. The man is an asshole. No wonder Pence likes him so much.
edited 2nd May '18 10:49:26 AM by Raptorslash
It also has some other polls about how 51% of people find discussing politics stressful and frustrating, with partisans rating more highly than independents. No surprise. Attempting to discuss politics with a Republican these days is like trying to break a concrete block with your forehead. With enough time, effort, and dead brain cells, you might be able to break through, but was it really worth the brain damage?
Where I am, whenever conservative speakers come it's either alt-right types or Turning Point USA. Either way, you can't have a constructive conversation with them. They're just waiting for you to get frustrated or piss you off on purpose so they can make "triggered" jokes. In the case of alt-right types, it's not worth giving them the platform. People like Milo and Richard Spencer feed off attention.
If there are going to be conservative speakers, I'd like them to be people who are respectful to people who disagree and who I can have a polite, civil dialogue with. But those people are never invited for some reason.
edited 2nd May '18 10:58:35 AM by Raptorslash
![]()
![]()
there was a line from the late show that went something like this (paraphrased):
Fox News is the Propaganda arm of the Republican Party, which has been overtaken by Trump, who is controlled by Putin, thus making it an arm of the Kremlin's corrupt state sponsored media.
edited 2nd May '18 11:03:54 AM by megaeliz

If it comes to the risk of nuclear war or the risk of losing an opportunity to control the House, I'll take the latter. There are degrees of awful even beyond the things currently running our government.
edited 2nd May '18 9:43:01 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"